Jun 18, 2007

Sunni vs Shia: Brownback vs Romney?

WASHINGTON - An aide to GOP presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback, R.Kan., has been reprimanded for sending e-mail to Iowa Republican leaders in an apparent attempt to draw unfavorable scrutiny to rival Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.

Emma Nemecek, the southeastern Iowa field director for Brownback's presidential campaign, violated campaign policy when she forwarded the June 6 e-mail from an interest group raising the questions, the Brownback campaign said Sunday.

Nemecek asked a group of Iowa Republican leaders to help her fact-check a series of statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including one that says: "Theologically, the only thing Christianity and the LDS church has in common is the name of Jesus Christ, and the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith."